Constant...

Constant.
Dictionary.com defines constant as:

'Not changing or varying; uniform; regular; invariable; continuing without pause or let-up; unceasing; regular; recurring; continual; persistent; faithful; unswerving in love, devotion; steadfast; firm in mind or purpose; resolute.'

What is constant in your life?
What things never change, never vary, are unceasing and never let-up, are persistent and faithful?
Ummm...nothing fits that description, I hear you say.
And I agree.

I have been thinking along these lines. So many things have no constancy. Even the things that we think are constant turn out to not be so. No matter what I look at, my mood, my emotions, my faith, my bank balance, my plans, my strategy, my purpose and direction, all the things I view about myself, even my own character and personality I see no constancy. All I see is fluctuating change, variance, irregularity, nothing that can be relied upon.

I am thinking this and God spoke.
He said, "I am your constant; I am CONSTANT."

Now, when stuff like that happens I then start to chew over it.
The first thing that springs into my mind is this:

'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.' [Hebrews 13: 8]

This post could take a long time to write...how do you describe the constancy of God?
If I could ask anything of God (and I can) I would ask that I could be a writer. I love to write but do it poorly.
But right now I wish that I could describe the constancy of God.
How is He described?
You know lately I have felt a certain level of something that I could only describe as anger, of sorts.
Anger, with a side-helping of frustration.
Then my wife, Alyson, asks me 'what's the matter' and asks me if I am 'vengeful'.
Vengeful?
Do I want revenge, do I desire retribution for some wrong?
No, not really that.
I have so much in my mind and in my spirit. It's like I am looking at a jigsaw puzzle as it sits piled up on the table, all the bits higgly-piggly, on some you can see the colours of the finished picture, others just the dull backing, but I know that within that pile of disjointedness is a masterpiece.

It could be assumed that the jigsaw is mine to sort and make but I don't think it is.
This picture is too complex in its simplicity for me to build.
The finished picture is beyond me, my ability, my ideas, my revelation.
The finished picture is the magnificence of my God Himself and He has to reveal it to me.
I can't make it happen.
For along time now I have preached through written word that it's not about me, it's about Him, and it isn't revealed in my effort but rather in His Grace.
God reveals Himself, He reveals Himself in His 'declaration'...I speak of Jesus, and He is 'disclosed' by the Holy Spirit of God.
All I know here, right now, is that when the jigsaw is complete it will be stupendous! I believe it!

GOD. How is He described?
I hear a voice...

"LOOK AT JESUS."

Recently I had the privilege to baptise a young man. It was an honour. After the act of baptism I prayed and I spoke the name of Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Hillsong Church had their annual conference recently and the theme for the conference was, "NO OTHER NAME."
Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.
I didn't go to the conference but I absolutely agree there truly is NO OTHER NAME.

'...God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' [Philippians 2: 9 - 11]

Constant. How to describe His constancy?
I hear a voice...

'But now faith, hope , love abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.' [1 Corinthians 13: 13]

Love. He is constant in His love. His love is constant. It isn't swayed. It doesn't deviate. It is constant.

Recently I have felt sort of confused. My mind is full. I receive and receive. I love to just sit in the Lord's presence and write. The Lord showed me the jigsaw puzzle. It's pieces are turned out on the table and  some parts of the picture are made but the true masterpiece is awaiting the Great Jigsaw Maker to reveal it. A bit like this...although the jigsaw in this picture is a little too complete...

Other pieces are awaiting order and with order the picture will be revealed.
I shared these thoughts with friends and someone asked me what I felt I needed to do to bring order and reveal the picture and I felt to quickly answer that I am not the picture maker.
The Lord is my jigsaw maker, my picture revealer, my revelation.

That jumble of thoughts, the jigsaw, are very evident to me as I try to write this. 

One thing I know, however, is that when the picture is revealed it will be beyond all is others in its beauty and stupendous in its value.

I was thinking earlier this morning and into my mind came this...

'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.' [Hebrews 13: 8]

He is constant.
He is constant in His love, He is constant in His plan, He is constant in His blessing, He is constant in what He says, He is constant in His promises, He is constant in His provision, He is constant in His character, He is constant in every aspect of life for He is constant in Life.
He is constant. He is Life, and Love, and Hope, and Peace, and...
Don't know what else to say...don't have the words.
He is constant.

A burning fire!...

Lying on my desk is a scrap of paper. It has been there for at least a year. You would have to see my desk to fully understand! Somehow of late it has made its way to the top, and into my view.

I wrote it, not sure how long ago, and it is headed... 

'Jeremiah 20: 7 - '

'O Lord, You have deceived me and I was deceived; You have overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me. For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, because for me the word of the Lord has resulted in reproach and derision all day long. But if I say, "I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name," then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it. For I have heard the whispering of many, "Terror on every side! Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!" All my trusted friends, watching for my fall, say: "Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him and take our revenge on him." But the Lord is with me like a dread champion...[Jeremiah 20: 7 - 11]

I can identify with that! Please don't sympathise with me. But I do feel like a fish out of water, a square peg in a round hole, a laughingstock! But more than that I know the 'burning fire shut up in my bones', and the weariness of holding it in!

The note on my desk was some notes I took for it goes on to talk about quitting. Apparently the Bible is full of people who quit, reconsidered and changed the world. (These are the notes I took.) Wanting to quit is a sign of success. You can have the luxury of wanting to quit, as long as you know you will never quit. Every time you overcome the urge to quit you open up the possibility that anything could happen. And those who think to quit should, instead, ask questions pertaining to what's on the other side of 'quit'. Those are the sum total of my notes on this piece of paper.

Why would this make its way to the top of the stuff that lies on my desk? A note about quitting!

There's only two answers to that. I either quit, or I don't.
I am writing this and bang, at the exact moment a video is shared on Facebook. The video is about 'being missional'. So I click on it and watch it.
The presenter is slick in his rap presentation of 'being missional' but he begins with sharing that he used to hold the 'stereotypical concept of mission' that as being 'rice fields in Cambodia...'
Wow! That cuts! That mocks! That denounces!
So mission is no longer preaching the gospel in some place but some airy-fairy declaration that people don't do anyway, presented in a rap style!
Please! I don't criticise your mission, please don't criticise mine. My call is real, whether you want to believe it or not!

I'm into 'mission' so I viewed and listened and as I did so the question came again; I can either quit or not.

Quit would be easy and, no doubt, would release you all from the irritation of this blog.

But sadly, for me and you, the message of the grace of God in Christ Jesus 'in my heart...becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it.'

 It's a burning fire shut up in my bones that I have to release. To not is a weary place, I cannot endure it!'

Where to from here?...

You like that picture? I only add pictures to try and make it a bit more interesting.

This one though does kind of represent, visually, were I stand at the moment.

The problem is when I stand at these points God reminds me of something...always!
It is very inconvenient!
He reminds me of this...I sometimes take teams of people with me to Cambodia. We have conducted two large youth camp events and because I am far from being 'youth' I have, on these occasions, taken some real youth with me.
I have always prompted some preparation for their trip by encouraging them to write down their testimony, how they became a Christian, because this is always a good place to start when sharing the gospel. Nothing better than a story of how you personally have been impacted by Jesus! So they do this and ultimately a day will come when God will say 'so and so' is sharing today. When I turn to 'so and so' and tell them that God says they are up today mostly they turn to jelly!
I then share with them that it is my experience that when we feel like jelly the best thing is to clutch our piece of paper, our written down testimony, and head for the front. I tell them that I can categorically assure them that when they get to the front Jesus will be there. And He always is! I have seen jelly turn to solid rock of truth and revelation before my very eyes, many times!

So what has this story got to do with me?
As I stand at the crossroads waiting on the breakthrough I am absolutely convinced is coming, in Jesus name, I feel as if God wants me to head toward the front, trusting that He will be there! But how can I do that?
I don't have....

I haven't been well for a couple of days and so I have had a lot of time to think. For years now we have been sharing Jesus in rural Cambodia via little gospel rallies, celebrations of Jesus. Many, many thousands of people have become Christians, many have been baptised and many churches planted. Along the way we rejoice that many acts of 'deed' have accompanied the 'word' in fulfillment of our mission statement... (www.cambododiawtl.org.au)
I rejoice in that.

I like history. Always have. It was one of my favourite subjects at school. I was thinking today and I thought about my brief understanding of the history of Cambodia. A developing nation saw the rich, mainly gathered in the city, receiving the benefits of education, and investment. The poor, on the other hand, remained desperately poor. They lived in the country and resentment grew. Ultimately a revolution happened and the poor rose up and the desperate result was that millions of Cambodians died, mainly the educated and rich, at the hands of their own people. That was the Khmer Rouge revolution.
They say that history repeats itself, and there are many examples of that phenomenon down through history.
Today investment pours into Cambodia by the bucket load. Phnom Penh, today, is unrecognisable from that which I first saw in 2001. The rich get richer. Often they still consider themselves poor but this just amplifies to me the insatiable desire they have for wealth, as if wealth equals life. The cars they drive are a prime example. I am considered rich because I am western but I could never afford the vehicles they easily afford!
Meanwhile the poor remain poor. I am so glad that God's direction for WTL is clearly toward the poor, not toward those who just think they are poor. Please do not misunderstand that statement. In some respects you need to be closely acquainted with Cambodia to understand what I say fully.

As I considered this I was somewhat alarmed. The raw material is there for history to repeat itself.
God forbid!
I then saw a revolution. I saw why I am called to preach in the provinces because it is from there that the revolution will come. This will not be a revolution brandishing AF47s, and hoes, and death pits, and torture and torment but a revolution of the love of Jesus. The banner of the Lordship of Christ will be raised first in rural Cambodia. And we are an integral part of that. I believe it! I am called to share Grace. I am called to have the people sit down, that is a position of rest, a position of peace. The coming revolution will be done sitting down receiving the King!

Then why am I standing here at these crossroads?

Money! God has promised financial breakthrough. Yesterday a friend of mine posted a comment on Facebook questioning the morality of some arch that is proposed to be built in Sydney. Reports apparently vary but the price tag of this arch is put at either $3,000,000 or $9,000,000 depending on which paper you read. I reflected on what I could do with $9,000,000!
Financial breakthrough. We don't see it yet. All we see is a very high wall, and the gates are shut up tight. All we see is an approaching enemy hell bent on destruction. But we do hear a voice which says,

'The Lord said..."See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. You shall march..."' [Joshua 6: 2 - 3]

We hear...

'"You need not fight this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, o Judah and Jerusalem, Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you."' [2 Chronicles 20: 17] 

Does anyone know what the name Emmaus means? It was to Emmaus the the two disciples were going when Jesus came and joined Himself to them but they didn't recognise Him. I don't want to get into a study of this story but the truth is that these two disciples were certainly downcast, unsure, questioning. Apparently, according to the oracle, Google, Emmaus means 'an earnest longing' and there were hot springs there. So did they need a bath, or were they earnestly longing for the answer? Not sure but for me at this moment that isn't really the point. The point is that as they went Jesus joined Himself to them and went with them. Ultimately they 'saw' Him...what a revelation that must have been! Their earnest longing must certainly have been satisfied...but...if they had never set out on the road to 'Earnest Longing' they would not have had the revelation of the only One who can satisfy earnest longing.

I want to step on the journey. I believe the Lord wants me, and my team in Cambodia and in Australia, to begin. To start. To head for the front. To begin the journey to Emmaus...

Then why am I standing at these crossroads?

I have no real idea why I have shared this. Maybe it will help you. Maybe you can help me. Maybe God will use it to prompt something in someone...I have to believe in the promise of the provision of God. I really have nothing else I can do!

Here's another nice picture to finish with...I like this one because WTL is the road, the avenue, God says, that we must walk down into the fullness of His plan. WTL means 'Way, Truth, Life' because Jesus is our centrepiece, we follow only Him...but here I stand...

Never Give Up...

This came on Facebook this morning and it really fanned the flames of my thoughts of late, and this morning...

I was thinking of Jesus.
You know the devil got it seriously wrong because he thought that if he killed Jesus then the purpose of God, the redemption and reconciliation of the world, would be destroyed. His thinking was if I kill the Son of God then nothing stands in my way of bringing total destruction to the creation created in the image of God.
I think he got a massive shock one day when Jesus made a statement of truth that shocked him. Jesus was having a conversation with the Pharisees and He says to them, "I have authority to lay it (His life) down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." [John 10: 18]
As Jesus made that statement I believe the enemy took a gasp.

From then on the enemy's strategy changed and he began trying to divert Jesus from the path before Him. Consider Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. He is in a torment and His sweat is as great drops of blood falling. Can we really enter in to what were His thoughts and feelings as He considered all before Him? We cannot! Man would do their worst with the whip and the word, they would heap their abuse and mockery upon Him and nail Him on a cross and when they had done their worst His Father would turn His back on Him as our sin, total and complete, was laid upon Him. Can we enter into that? No. Man turned their back on God, and in response God turned His back on His Son as He bore our sins in His own body on our account.
If you have watched the Mel Gibson film, 'The Passion of the Christ', you will see the garden scene when the serpent comes and slithers his deception and diversion around the feet of Jesus. The Bible tells us that angels were sent to come and minister to Jesus as He says to His Father, "If it is possible Father let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless, not My will, but Your will be done.' [Matthew 26: 39]
In the movie we see His victory aptly displayed as Jesus raises His foot and crushes the head of the enemy! It is a powerful image!

Our direction has recently been directed toward the story of the children of Israel, and Joshua, gathered outside the shut up walls of Jericho in Joshua 6. The encouragement of the preachers was to not give up on six. If the children of Israel had stopped on six the walls would never have come down.

I have been in ministry for thirteen years. How many times have I thought to give up? Thousands! Almost daily! Now I do not present myself as a model for there are many better. Think of Paul who was beaten, and stoned, and starved, and shipwrecked and yet pressed on. Think of Jesus who had the most difficult path before Him but said 'not my will, but Your will be done.'
Recently, I was challenged during a discussion about the constant battering of doubt that we experience in our calls and I just felt that it was important to declare that I believe, and that I don't really know what else to do. I suppose if God had given me an immense career in some field then my purpose could be devoted to and engulfed by the pursuit of that, but I don't have that path. All I have is a call that I received on a hot day in the back of a ute in Cambodia. All I have is the promise of God through many people who have declared the plan of God over my life to bring Grace to the nations. All I have is a love of sharing the gospel and seeing the Lord move by His Spirit in bringing many to Himself. All I have is His revelation of Himself through His Spirit. All I have is in-dwelling Life. All I have is His strengthening, His guidance, His blessing.

I don't have anything else so there is nothing else to say except 'I believe' and to start on one more circuit of the high wall that seemingly stands between me and the breakthrough God has declared. I do hear His voice that says to me, "Who do you think I am?" and as that resounds in my spirit I can do nothing else but say 'I believe'.
I believe you Lord when You say, as you did to Joshua, and the children of Israel, all those years ago...

"See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors..."

Lord, I don't 'see' often but I choose to believe.

Now back to the beginning of this post.
'The devil doesn't know what to do with somebody who won't give up'.
Why is that? I believe it is because of  Colossians 2: 12.
It says there...

'...you were also raised with Him...'

The devil made a serious miscalculation when he thought he could kill God's purpose by killing His Son, and the devil has made a serious miscalculation when he thinks he can kill the purpose of God by killing off your call because just as Jesus had the power to rise again He has bestowed that same life on us, the life of the Spirit. We live because He lives. It is in that Life that we won't give up.

As we receive His life we live, and by His Spirit we can say, 'I believe, I will not give up.'

Let me finish with this. I love this verse.

'Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY.' [2 Corinthians 3: 17]

Everything...

Solomon had a dream and in the dream God said to him, "Ask what you wish me to give you."
Wow!
Great dream!
Solomon's answer was that God would give him an understanding heart to judge the people justly.
God was happy because Solomon asked for discernment to understand justice rather than long life, or riches, or the life of his enemies. God was happy and gave him his wish, plus he gave him riches and honour, 'so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days.'
So if God asked you the same question what would you say?
The thing is that He IS asking you that question!

I'm excited!

Yesterday I had a 'moment'.
Everyday I love to sit in the presence of God and usually I share what I receive by writing a Facebook post. I hope that's okay. To be frank, I need, for myself, to write my meditations down and so I write those posts for myself, but I do hope and pray that maybe in some way you are also blessed. God says His word never returns without achieving that thing for which it was sent, so that is an encouragement to me.

There is song we sing sometimes and it has a line in it which says, "...He gives and takes away...and we sing it with such reverent solemnity, but I can't...I don't sing that line because, I'm sorry, that isn't my God.
Now here is a verse you will likely know very well.

'But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.' [Matthew 6: 34]

This is Jesus speaking and He is talking about clothing, and what we eat or drink, our physical needs. He says that our heavenly Father knows we need this stuff and He encourages us to seek Him first and all these things will be added. Added. I like added...He gives! Now this verse is one of the plainest and simplest but also one of the most savagely misinterpreted verses in the Bible. Many a pastor's sermon has counselled people to work very hard on their seeking and their righteousness when all the time it is talking about Jesus. Seek Him. That's all the verse is saying, seek Him. He is our righteousness. It isn't ours, it's His.

Now the 'moment. I was reading and 'BANG' a verse I have 'seen' many times hit me.
Listen to this.

'Grace and peace be multiplied to you...' [2 Peter 1: 2]

Oh, there is more but let's consider grace and peace for a moment.
Grace - the unmerited, undeserved favour of God.
Peace - completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord.
(Remember Jesus said, 'Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.' [John 14: 27])

Do you like the sound of that?
And God says they are multiplied to you!
Not just an adding God but a multiplying God!
He gives...He gives...He gives...we should be singing.
Are you excited?

Now...big, BIG question.
How are they multiplied to me?
Listen carefully.
It is plain on the page but shrouded in Law in our churches.
(Please don't get the idea I am against 'church'. I am all for church it is just that I struggle with the concept of church that church has become, but that's another post.)

How are grace and peace multiplied to me?
Listen.

'...IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND OF JESUS OUR LORD.' [2 Peter 1: 2]

 Whoa! What no strategy, nothing to do, no work, no mission work, nothing to do?
Just in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord?
My God! This is too wonderful!
But it gets better.

Some time ago a person of authority came to me and said they didn't agree with my definition of the abundant life that Jesus spoke of in John 10: 10. They said it referred to spiritual life but could not include the physical needs of our lives. I'm sorry, what a load of baloney!
Listen to this one. The same writer, John, writes to his mate, Gaius, and says,

'Beloved, (Gauis is obviously a good mate!) I pray that in (listen to it!) in ALL RESPECTS you may prosper and be in good health, (listen!) just as your soul prospers.' [3 John 1: 2]

John, the apostle, the disciple who knew Jesus loved him, prays for prosperity and health which is Gauis's in addition to prosperity of soul! Abundant life! Yes, soul prosperity but more than that, life prosperity and health prosperity!

Back to Peter. It gets better. Read on.

'...seeing that His divine power has granted to us EVERYTHING pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.' [2 Peter 1: 3] 

Oh my God!
Who has called us? Jesus!
We are called us by His own glory and excellence and by His divine power, His Godly power, He has granted to us...please note it says granted to us, it does not say will grant to us one day in the sweet by and by, it says GRANTED TO US...EVERYTHING PERTAINING TO LIFE AND GODLINESS!

Let me ask you a question. Do you desire godliness? I am sure all Christians would give a resounding yes to that. Many are struggling and striving constantly to achieve it, sadly!
Another question. Do you desire everything pertaining to your life? Oh, yes please!
Then, how do we get it?

THROUGH THE TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM!

So glorious!
How do we get a true knowledge of Him?
Listen to this.
In John 16 Jesus does a momentous thing, He promises someone. Not only does He promise someone He defines that someone's role. It is magnificent!
Listen. I can't quote it all but you can read it yourself, John 16: 5 - 15, ten verses of wonder and truth!

'He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.' [John 16: 14]

Wow!
How do we get true knowledge of Jesus. We ask the Holy Spirit.
Pray with me now, "Holy Spirit, we thank you for your role to disclose Jesus to us. We ask for a revelation of Jesus, new and powerful and everyday. Oh! We want more and more and more of Him! Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Receive Him, Beloved, and you will receive grace and peace multiplied.
Receive Him and you will receive everything pertaining to life and godliness.
EVERYTHING. I say it all the time. JESUS IS EVERYTHING!
How can He not be? He is God's everything, how can He not be our everything also.
Any other teaching is lies!
JESUS + NOTHING = EVERYTHING.

So, I contemplated the wonder of this and I was astounded.
Then God took me back. You know it is very important to read your Bible as a whole. It is the most complete and wonderful narrative and has to be read as a whole. You cannot do as so many do and pluck verses and make your doctrine out of them. You MUST view everything through grace glasses, with eyes of grace, through the cross, seeking Jesus everywhere. You must!

God stepped me back two verses and bingo. It was wonderful and clear.
Peter, the apostle, dear, wonderful, impetuous Peter. Peter the preacher, Peter who had the faith to go all the way to the cross just as His Saviour and Lord had done. He opens His letter with the words...

'Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours...' [2 Peter 1: 1]

Hang on a minute, I thought. My faith of the same kind as Peter's...man I haven't stood and preached, I haven't sung in the prison, I haven't endured like Peter, I haven't been crucified upside down...my faith the same? No way!
In that moment it would have been easy to start inspecting and analysing the quality of my faith...but God had other ideas. Praise God.
We read on.

'...by the righteousness of our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.' [2 Peter 1: 1]

Do you see it? I bang on and on in my blog and in my Facebook posts about the fact that our own righteousness is not the issue, for we have none but, hallelujah, we are the righteousness of God in Christ. That is 2 Corinthians 5: 21.
Beloved, we have the same faith as Peter, and Paul, and John, and...any other luminary of the faith...Stephen, we have the same faith because it is based in Jesus.
We have received a faith BY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF OUR GOD AND SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST.
This is the same faith as Peter, based in Jesus, He is our shield of faith.
Are you excited?
Are you relieved?
Beloved, everything is yours if you have Christ.
He is your faith.
He is your righteousness.
Knowledge of Him grants us everything pertaining to life and to godliness.
These two things are the very essence of the life of a Christian and we have them in Christ.
He is centrality.
Don't give me your academic knowledge, I don't want your wise words of strategy and program. I don't want your view of life, I want Jesus. Nothing more or less.

Can we meet and when we do can we centre Him? Please?
Just Him.

JESUS IS EVERYTHING.
I want only Him.

What do you think?

My mate...

I have a mate I would like to tell you of.
My desire to share about my mate comes from something that happened to me very recently.
Another mate of mine has felt the call of God to start a home church. No, that's wrong, it's not a home church because we are the church so it isn't a church but a gathering which my mate refers to as 'Open Circle' but it is a call to restore 'church' as God saw it rather than what it has become...but that's another story...if you would like to know more you can contact me via the comment opportunity below and I will put you in touch with my mate.
Anyway I was at 'Open Circle' and as an ice-breaker all gathered were asked to share about any book we had read recently. I chose 'Somme Mud' by E.P.F. Lynch, mainly as it was the only book, other than the Bible, that I had read recently.

This book made me think of my mate, who I want to share with you here.

Now, I cannot really do the book, Somme Mud, justice. I do not have the words, or experience, to adequately describe all these men experienced and endured as they fought and died in a war they didn't choose, in a place far from home and family. It touched me incredibly, especially as my own uncle, Clifton, who I never knew, died far from home at Messine Ridge.

Cpl. Clifton Shephard

Professor Bill Gamage who wrote the forward for the book writes this:

'Somme Mud puts you in the trenches, enduring the mud and the cold, smelling the stink of whale oil, following the dogfight overhead, suffering death's randomness. You watch Snow snipe a German half a mile away, then the next day risk his life to save another German and be reprimanded for it. You are brought close up into the war's world, wondering how such men could ever be civilians again, if they got the chance."

 Now I was impacted immensely by this book and I would thoroughly recommend it.
But none of it impacted me more than the final chapter.
Edward Lynch, 'Nulla', survived and  is on the ship returning home to Australia and the conversation turns to 'why?' Why did they volunteer to go? Why did they go to see their friends and comrades cut down in battle? Why did they expose themselves to the incredible deprivation that was 'the war to end all wars'? Why?

Edward Lynch writes:

"The argument turns to why we enlisted. We hear the old one about enlisting while drunk, but know that is all lies and rot, just so much camoflage to hide the real reason.

No one ever seems to admit that he enlisted out of love of country, or because he thought his loved ones were in danger. Somehow its seems that most of us enlisted because our mates did. That men were driven to enlist by that urging spirit of pulling together that is really mateship undefined. A man enlists because his mates do, not because he wants to bayonet and bomb other men."

He goes on...

"Of course we vow we'll never enlist again, yet we know that if ever the boys are on the job again, many vows will be swept aside by the thunder of marching feet, the marching feet of old mates. Mateship transcends reason. That has been proved on the battlefield time after time. Mateship is born or renewed when the country calls and that is how it should be and how it ever must be. Mateship."

As he closes his book he writes...

"The war is over. The trial was long and severe. The prize was worth it, though, when measured in the mateship of men. My mates! Memories of men! Memories of mates! Men who were mates and mates who were men. C'est la guerre!"

Now it is interesting and sad that within a few short years the world was plunged into another war. Edward Lynch, who became a teacher when he returned home and wrote this book, enlisted again for a second 'stunt'. Mates.

Now I read this with tears in my eyes. Tears of pride, and regret. Tears. And then I thought of my mate.

You know the Bible says this, and it is true.

"For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. [Romans 5: 7 - 8]

Jesus is viewed by the world as something of a wimp. If you choose to believe in Jesus then you lack in some way. But I want you to think of this. I can't begin to describe what Jesus endured. I have no idea, just as I can't describe what Edward Lynch endured. But one thing I know Edward Lynch, and Jesus Christ, are MEN!
Jesus was a man of the highest calibre, a man that men admire. And He is my mate!
I could write much but words fail me.
The point is this, there is hardly anyone who will die for a righteous man, some might for a good man, but Jesus, even when we were alien to Him by our own choice He died for me.
He died the most savage and vicious of deaths in the world's view but more than that He endured the wrath of the fire of a holy God against sin, my sin, so He could make me His mate.
Jesus died not because we were mates, but to make me His mate.
Edward Lynch said that mateship transcends reason.
The mateship of Jesus transcends EVERYTHING!
I am a mate of Jesus.

Listen here...

Jesus said..."...I have called you friends..." [John 15: 15]

My mate.
Jesus Christ. Son of God. Holy One. Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Eternal Father. Prince of Peace. Friend of sinners. Healer. Restorer. Provider. Everything.
JESUS.
My mate.
Is He your mate?

I have a dream...

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach good news to the poor...
I have no idea who reads this but I have to share my dreams with you.
God wants me to share my dreams.
I could write a plan or a strategy, I could focus on organisation or communication or tax deductibility status but God continually says "No, that is not My way."
God just wants me to share my dreams.

I dream of standing in the stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia preaching to thousands upon thousands of Cambodians. I dream of watching as the Holy Spirit of God rises up on one side of the stadium and rolls torrentially down into the stadium and up the other side as thousands upon thousands receive THE KING.

I dream of standing with my brothers and sisters and raising the flagpole of the Lordship of Christ Jesus over the country of Cambodia and claiming the country for Christ.

I dream of standing as Jesus is proclaimed Lord of Cambodia.

I dream of walking in my call and sharing the gospel of the Grace of God to the world. I dream of walking with my team and with my brother Samnang into the glory of the future that God has declared for us.

I dream of raising up the generation of Benjamin's in Cambodia and throughout the world. Benjamins, totally sold-out to Christ, reliant on no-one but Jesus, declaring no-one but Jesus, exalting no-one but Jesus. Benjamins, son's of God's right hand, son's of favour, son's of blessing.

I dream of preaching, preaching, preaching. I would declare the love of Christ everyday if I could.
My call is not to be a bus driver, or a carpenter, or a brain surgeon or a success, my call is to share Jesus Christ.

I dream of street children. Street children who live on the street for whatever reason. I don't really care why they live there but I dream of them receiving Jesus. Along with Him they receive an education at the WTL School for Disadvantaged Children and they become people who care and have a dream of their own.

I dream of a school. A school in a prison. I dream of prisoners being prepared by the WTL Prison School ministry, prepared to leave prison and join society. I dream of them coming through the gates of their prison with their Bible, their qualification and their dignity ready to be people of love.
I dream of a rate of recidivism in Cambodia of 0%.

I dream of water. I dream of children sick with cholera. I dream of adults sick with dysentry and seeing holes being dug in their villages tapping into clean water for the first time. I dream of people drinking clean water and being taught clean practices by the WTL Hygiene for a Village team.

I dream of sitting with ordinary people in ordinary places in Cambodia and throughout the world and sharing in their food and their hospitality and blessing them with all that is Christ.

I dream of putting my hand on people and seeing sickness flee.

I dream of sweeping my hand over families and villages and watching lack and want bow down.

I dream of people who are givers, who understand that even though the money may leave their hands it will never leave their lives.

I dream of a book, written by me, inspired by God, sharing grace, the keys of grace.

I dream of resting at my home overlooking the green, red hills of Dorrigo before foraying out on another mission in the delivery of the great message of Grace, the sharing of the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus is everything.

I dream of abundance, abundance that means my life requires of no man, my life rested completely in the finished work of Jesus, my life dedicated to His gospel and His call.

I dream of lives touched with the love of Christ.

I dream of Christ exalted in my life.

I dream of less of me and more of Him.

I dream of a day when I will stand in glory with all those who caught my dream surrounded by millions upon millions of faces rejoicing. I dream of a voice speaking and declaring, "Well done!" I dream of asking who all these people are and hearing my Lord answer, "They are your inheritance."

I dream of standing with Paul, and Peter and as I dream of this I hear that famous quote of Theoden from Lord of the Rings, "I go to my fathers, in whose mighty company I shall not now feel ashamed..."

I dream all the dreams of God and I hear His voice which says, "I am able to do far more abundantly beyond all that you can ask or think, according to My power that works within us."

I dream...

Now I need to ask you.
Do you want to dream with me?
For a long time God has been prompting me to ask but I have resisted Him because I find it hard to ask.
We need partners.
Partners who share our dreams.
Partners who can see that day when we stand together in glory.
Partners who want to see those millions won.
Partners who will invest.
Partners who will be regular financial supporters of WTL.
Partners who will under-gird us with prayer and care.

Asking is always hard but it's not me asking.
God calls, we answer.

Will you answer and bring Christ to a nation?

If you feel His prompt please contact me, I would be delighted to receive your email.
graemeshephard@cambodiawtl.org.au

God bless you.